One Big Beautiful Effort to Confuse the Public.....

 

HAS Trump Handed Netanyahu a Get-Out-of-Trial-Free Card?

Never a fan of long-established norms, President Donald Trump crossed another traditional line by wading into the criminal prosecution of a political figure in an allied country: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While leading Israel, Netanyahu faces an ongoing corruption trial (in which he denies all charges) stemming from allegations of giving favors in exchange for gifts and sympathetic media coverage. On Saturday, Trump railed against the trial on Truth Social, calling it a “WITCH HUNT” and comparing it to his own prosecutions. Trump alluded to US assistance for Israel, continuing: “The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar [sic] a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this. We just had a Great Victory with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu at the helm — And this greatly tarnishes our Victory. LET BIBI GO, HE’S GOT A BIG JOB TO DO!”

The post may or may not have had an effect. On Sunday, the Jerusalem court hearing Netanyahu’s corruption case canceled this week’s hearings, “accepting a request [Netanyahu] made citing classified diplomatic and security grounds,” as Reuters reported. “It was unclear” whether Trump’s post had “influenced the court’s decision.” The heads of Israel’s Mossad spy service and defense intelligence agency provided, along with Netanyahu, classified justifications for the cancelation, The Guardian noted.

At The Jerusalem Post, senior contributing editor Herb Keinon writes of Trump’s Truth Social post: “Everyone pees in the swimming pool, goes the well-known adage. But only some folks do it from the diving board. US President Donald Trump did just that [by criticizing Netanyahu’s trial]. The swimming pool in this analogy is US-Israel relations. Interference in each other’s affairs is nothing new; it’s pervasive and mutual. Everybody does it. What made Trump’s actions so audacious wasn’t the fact of interference but how he did it: openly, unapologetically, and with a barely veiled threat that American military aid might hang in the balance.”

In the past , I didn't follow much Fareed's analysis nor his opinions, but in the last year or so, I've learned to respect the man and look more carefully at most of his analysis, he's sharp and practical and always to the point, Again in this case I've decided to copy part of his page, to the benefit of my American and international readers, as it describes well the present situation and the funny relation. More so after the announcement of the Netanyahu visit next week to the US and the White-House, which comes at a controversial time in the relation and the diverging objectives of both sides. 

As always, my many thanks to all, stay safe and well.